Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;8(3):359-367.
doi: 10.1007/s40801-021-00248-5. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Real-World Assessment of Interferon-β-1b and Interferon-β-1a Adherence Before and After the Introduction of the BETACONNECT® Autoinjector: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Oisín Butler  1 , Simone Heeg  2 , Katsiaryna Holl  2 , Ann-Kathrin Frenz  3 , Eva-Maria Wicklein  2 , Mark Rametta  4 , Sandy Yeo  5
Affiliations

Real-World Assessment of Interferon-β-1b and Interferon-β-1a Adherence Before and After the Introduction of the BETACONNECT® Autoinjector: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Oisín Butler et al. Drugs Real World Outcomes. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Both interferon beta-1b (IFN-β-1b) and interferon beta-1a (IFN-β-1a) are immunomodulators that require regular subcutaneous self-administration by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, no electronic autoinjector is available for IFN-β-1a in the US.

Objective: This retrospective cohort study investigated adherence to two subcutaneous disease-modifying therapies, IFN-β-1b and IFN-β-1a, during two periods (before and after the introduction of the BETACONNECT® autoinjector for IFN-β-1b).

Patients and methods: Data were evaluated from the MarketScan database for adults in the US with an MS diagnosis and a medical claim for subcutaneous IFN-β-1b or IFN-β-1a, either before (October 2013-September 2015) or after the introduction of BETACONNECT (October 2016-September 2018). Patient populations were propensity-score matched by demographic and clinical characteristics. Persistence was recorded, and adherence was evaluated by medication possession ratio (MPR).

Results: The study included 196 IFN-β-1b and 365 IFN-β-1a people with MS (PwMS) (pre-BETACONNECT period), and 126 IFN-β-1b and 223 IFN-β-1a PwMS (post-BETACONNECT period). In the pre-BETACONNECT period, the proportion with at least 80% MPR was higher for IFN-β-1a (90%) than for IFN-β-1b (83%), but in the post-BETACONNECT period the proportion with ≥ 80% MPR was higher for IFN-β-1b (92%) than for IFN-β-1a (86%). In the pre-BETACONNECT period, median persistence (in days) was higher for IFN-β-1a (199) than for IFN-β-1b (152), while in post-BETACONNECT period persistence was higher for IFN-β-1b (327) than for IFN-β-1a (229).

Conclusions: Following the introduction of BETACONNECT, this exploratory study suggested that PwMS taking IFN-β-1b were more adherent compared with those taking IFN-β-1a, with higher persistence, and more than 90% reached 80% MPR, a threshold commonly used to define good adherence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors are employees of Bayer AG.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier plot for the pre-BETACONNECT period (before the introduction of the BETACONNECT device: October 2013–September 2015) for patients taking interferon-β-1b or interferon-β-1a
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan–Meier plot for the post-BETACONNECT period (after the introduction of the BETACONNECT device: October 2016–September 2018) for patients taking interferon-β-1b or interferon-β-1a
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lugaresi A, Rottoli MR, Patti F. Fostering adherence to injectable disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis. Expert Rev Neurother. 2014;14(9):1029–1042. doi: 10.1586/14737175.2014.945523. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ziemssen T, De Stefano N, Pia Sormani M, Van Wijmeersch B, Wiendl H, Kieseier BC. Optimizing therapy early in multiple sclerosis: an evidence-based view. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2015;4(5):460–469. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2015.07.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Halpern R, Agarwal S, Dembek C, et al. Comparison of adherence and persistence among multiple sclerosis patients treated with disease-modifying therapies: a retrospective administrative claims analysis. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2011;5:73–84. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S15702. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Patti F. Optimizing the benefit of multiple sclerosis therapy: the importance of treatment adherence. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2010;4:1–9. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S8230. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Plosker GL. Interferon-b-1b: a review of its use in multiple sclerosis. CNS Drugs. 2011;25(1):67–88. doi: 10.2165/11206430-000000000-00000. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources